Clayton, North Carolina

Clayton is a town in Johnston County, North Carolina. It was founded in 1770 by the colonial governor William Tryon during his march from New Bern to Hillsborough during the War of the Regulation. Nearly 100 years later, the first railroad came through, and Clayton was incorporated in 1869. The American Civil War created a depressed economy and an exodus of residents, but the extension of the railroad led to the revitalization of business in the town. It became a major center for the cotton, watermelon, and tobacco market, but it lost its financial eminence during the Great Depression of the 1930s. By the 1960s, the cotton mills had vanished due to deindustrialization. During the 1970s, Clayton became a bedroom community for Raleigh, leading to renewed growth. In 2018, Clayton had 22,850 residents, with 69.5% being white, 21.8% African-American, 10.7% Hispanic, and 1.4% Asian.